KING FEATURES ADDS MUSCLE TO POPEYE® MERCHANDISING CAMPAIGN WITH NEW DEALS IN ADVANCE OF 90TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

King Features Signs New International and Domestic Partners for Apparel, Accessories, Novelties, Publishing, and More

(NEW YORK – April 30, 2018) – Well, blow me down! Ahead of his 90th anniversary in 2019, Popeye is heading to retail with a raft of new domestic and international deals across categories including apparel, footwear, limited edition prints, publishing, and events. The lineup was announced today by King Features Syndicate, a division of Hearst, in advance of the Las Vegas Licensing Expo 2018.

Popeye fans around the globe will be able to celebrate the salty sailor with new apparel collections, including a line of t-shirts and sweaters in Canada from Vision/Eleven Apparel and apparel, accessories, and novelties from American Features Co., Ltd in Japan. In Europe, Saborn and Manifatture S.A. are bringing adult and children’s apparel to Benelux and Italy, respectively, and Oaktarget Garments Limited is launching a new line of t-shirts, hoodies, and pajamas in the U.K. and Ireland. Taymory is also debuting new Popeye performance swimwear and accessories across multiple territories in 2018, while Chocoolate brings adult tees to HK, Macau, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Malyasia, Canada, and the UK starting in Spring 2018.

Additional new Popeye product lines coming in 2018 and 2019 include: an exciting footwear collaboration with Sperry launching in Spring 2019; toys such as FUNKO POP! vinyl, available now in US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand and Mezco Toyz limited edition One: 12™ Collective figurine available Q4 worldwide; magazine promotions for Olive Oyl® and Brutus™ with Magazine House Co., Ltd. in Japan; hand-painted figurines and additional gift items from Arguydal in France; adult costumes from Rubies in the British Isles and Ireland; apparel and novelties from Trektor in Germany, Austria, Switzerland; and slippers and sandals featuring Popeye and Olive Oyl from PT Siantar Madju in Indonesia.

In recent years, America’s favorite Sailor Man has found a home in streetwear style. King Features, focused on building the momentum generated by successful collaborations with partners such as Iceberg, Joyrich and New Era, has secured new collaborations for trendy sportswear with H3 and apparel with A Bathing Ape that will launch in the U.S. later this year. King looks to continue this focus throughout 2018 and into 2019, having recently released a new brand logo and packaging, a fresh, interactive website, and a new YouTube channel, which has amplified Popeye’s social media with over 3.2 Million minutes of content viewed in the last month alone. King is developing all-new creative based around streetwear trends to inspire potential new partners which will be unveiled at Licensing Expo in late May. They are also developing new Popeye content for the first time in almost 15 years leading into his 90th anniversary next year.

“Over the last two years, we have worked to extend Popeye’s reach to new and younger demographics while enhancing engagement amongst our existing fans. As we head into his anniversary year we are continuing towards this goal with a strong focus on growing Popeye’s social platforms, creating new content for his anniversary, and fostering creative collaborations with high-end partners across the globe,” said Carla Silva, VP and GM, Global Head of Licensing for King Features. “Now, 2019 is primed to be Popeye’s biggest year ever with dozens of partners on board to help celebrate the pop-culture icon with exciting product lines, events, and content.”

Fans can find more at the recently launched website www.Popeye.com, a home for all things Popeye, including video content, the latest news, an interactive timeline charting his history and a photo filter feature that allows fans to brand and share all of their strong to the finish moments.

###

About Popeye
He’s tough. Fit. Resilient. Champion of the underdog and scourge of bullies. He yam what he yam and he’s strong…to the finish!

Popeye the Sailor Man has evolved into one of the world’s most recognizable pop icons with millions of fans, including celebs such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Lionel Messi and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and almost 10M+ fans on Facebook. A $28 million Jeff Koons Popeye sculpture is installed at the Wynn Las Vegas. Plus, he’s a gaming star and a major theme park attraction at Universal Orlando Resort. #PopeyeStrong!

About King Features
King Features Syndicate is a unit of Hearst, one of the nation’s largest diversified media, information and services companies, and i™ a member of Hearst Entertainment and Syndication Group, which includes cable network partnerships, television programming activities, and newspaper syndication and merchandise licensing operations. King is one of the most experienced organizations in licensing and entertainment and represents some of the most recognizable global brands, including Betty Boop™, Popeye®, Cuphead, Flash Gordon™, The Phantom™, Hägar the Horrible, Prince Valiant® and Mandrake the Magician. For more information, please visit www.kingfeatures.com.